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Playing Scatterogories with my elementary aged nephews, letter is C, topic is things you shout. They say “The C-Word” after my jaw hit the floor they finished the sentence “…you know, crap” We also were looking at mom’s old photos this weekend. We found a picture of my dad smoking in an airport while holding a baby (from the 70′s). Wow things have changed. Pretty sure Libby has spoken her first few bad words lately. Last night we heard her say “damn” a couple of times when we were putting her to bed, and there has also been a “shi*”. Libby had her first experience with a bouncy house this Sunday, and I’m pretty sure she’s still recovering. She really got in there and mixed it up. It was fun to watch her interact with other kids, even if they were a little older. We got to see her preform her first full on body tackle. As Chuck said, it is football season Jack does much better in church than he used to, but every Sunday is still not without some 4-year-old antics. This Sunday, we attended a church we had never been to before. He was doing OK for the most part, thanks to the usual arsenal of snacks and toys. Then it was time for the children’s sermon. He actually is brave enough to go up for these sometimes now, but this time he decided to be shy. He took a couple of steps out into the aisle, then said, “You need to come with me.” I wasn’t going to, but a nice woman in front of us whispered that it was OK for parents to go up with their kids. So I went and sat up front and listened to the sermon while Jack, on my lap, scanned the crowd for Daddy. When he saw him, he announced it loudly, then proceeded to wave at him for a long time. Then, the kicker: At the end when the pastor called for a prayer, Jack decided he needed to go back and “check on Daddy.” I tried to whisper for him to stop, but away he went. Did I mention that there was only one other kid up there? So yeah, it’s the pastor, one little girl and me, praying in the front during the children’s sermon. I remember thinking that if anyone walked in at that moment after Jack had already gone to the back, they would have wondered, “Who’s the giant kid?” While I was plenty embarrassed, it was clear the folks at church thought the whole thing was pretty hilarious. Especially because the moment the pastor announced she was passing out treats was the exact moment Jack decided to run back up to the front. Coincidence? Maybe. But it sure got a laugh out of the crowd. I’m guessing the good Lord got a chuckle out of it, too. Now that Libby’s getting older, it’s getting harder to leave her in the morning. Yesterday when I said “Give mom a kiss goodbye, I’m going to work” she replied “NO”, grabbed my hand, lead me to a chair and told me to sit down. Then she got a book and crawled up on my lap. Needless to say I was a few minutes late for work. I was out of town all last week for health care reporting training at the University of Missouri in Columbia — a very nice campus and community, by the way. In addition to all of the knowledge I picked up at the sessions, put on by the Association of Health Care Journalists, I learned a lot from my colleagues outside of the “classroom” too — including about parenting. One of my new friends said that she writes a letter to her son every month, detailing things he has done and what’s going on with their family that month. I thought this was a great idea. My son is 4, so it might be a little late to start this, but better late then never, right? A big thanks to Katie Ryan-Anderson of The Jamestown Sun for this tip. (Check out Katie’s blog, par-VENT-ing.) How do you track your child’s milestones? I’d love to hear your ideas… I’ve had my first bit of separation anxiety this summer. As parents, we don’t even want to think about the possibility that our children could go missing. But more than 800,000 kids in the U.S. go missing each year, or one child every 40 seconds, according to the National Child Identification Program. The FBI has developed a new Child ID app to help parents if that nightmare ever happens. It provides a place to electronically store photos and vital information about their children. The information can also be easily e-mailed to authorities. Check out this article about the new FBI app. The National Child Identification Program also offers child ID kits that include a means for fingerprinting your child and collecting his or her DNA. Check out this organization’s website for more information. So lately on the Disney channel in the morning, a catchy musical commercial about eating healthy has been playing. I just wanted to share it because I think it’s cute. It’s starring Wayne Brady of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” fame. The only funny thing is that it proved that young children often need guidance/clarification when watching TV. When Brady sang, “If you want to be strong, milk is good for your bones,” my 4-year-old said, “He said if you want to be strong, you have to eat bones.” Needless to say, I set him straight right away! In this sweltering heat, it’s important for parents of babies and toddlers to remember to always check their backseat. It’s shocking, but an average of 38 children die each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside cars, according to KidsAndCars.org. The organization devotes itself to saving children from this tragedy. Some of its tips include:
KidsAndCars.org has also come out with a new program to distribute safety cards through hospitals. The card can be downloaded by clicking here.
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